Church of the Faroe Islands

The Church of the Faroe Islands (Faroese: Fólkakirkjan,

Church of the Faroe Islands
lit. 'people's church'; Danish: Færøernes folkekirke) is one of
the smallest state churches in the world.[2] Prior to becoming Fólkakirkjan
independent on 29 July 2007, it was a diocese of the Church of
Denmark, a Lutheran church. As of 2023, 77.0% of the Faroe
Islanders belonged to the state church.[1]

Other churches in the Faroe Islands include the Plymouth

Brethren and the Roman Catholic Church.

History
The old wooden church of Gøta.

Christianization Type Communion

Classification Protestant
According to Færeyinga saga, the Viking chief Sigmundur
Orientation Lutheran
Brestisson brought Christianity to the Faroe Islands. On the
orders of the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason, Sigmundur Scripture Bible
forced the island people to convert to Christianity in 999. Theology Lutheranism
Resistance to the new religion led by the notorious Tróndur í
Polity Episcopal
Gøtu was quickly suppressed, and even though Sigmundur
himself lost his life, Christianity gained a foothold. Bishop Jógvan Fríðriksson
Provost Uni Næs

Catholic era Associations Lutheran World

Federation
Some years after the introduction of Christianity, the Faroese World Council of
church was established as a diocese, with an episcopal
Churches
residence in Kirkjubøur, and suffragan to several metropolitical
sees in succession, but eventually (after 1152) subject to the Conference of
archdiocese of Nidaros (Tróndheim). There were probably 33 European Churches
bishops in the Faroe Islands between the time Christianity was Porvoo Communion
introduced to the islands and the Reformation.
Communion of
This period was not always peaceful. The sagas of the Faroe Protestant Churches
Islands contain two accounts of the way the church took in Europe
possession of a large proportion of the land, overtaxing the Region Faroe Islands
people so harshly that it led to open rebellion. The saga of the
battle of Mannafallsdal relates that the bishop (probably Bishop Independence 29 July 2007
Erlend, appointed in 1269) was killed outside his church by the Separated from Church of Denmark
rebels. The historical value of this saga is highly debatable – Members 41,729 (2023)[1]
but it does serve to illustrate the conflict between the theocratic
church and an impoverished population. However, there is Official website www.folkakirkjan.fo
reasonable documentation of the fact that the bishop's residence (http://www.folkakirkj
an.fo/)
in Kirkjubø was burnt to the ground by the rebels, and that Erlend
was removed from the islands by order of the King. Erlend died in
Bergen in 1308.

The Reformation

In 1538, the last Catholic bishop in the Faroe Islands was removed
from his position. His Protestant replacement only lasted a few
years, and then he left the islands as well, as a dean took over as the
representative of the church under the Bishop of Zealand in
Denmark.

Lutheran Church

The orthodox Lutheran form of Christianity, propounded by the

Zealand bishop Jesper Brochmand, gained a strong foothold in the
Faroe Islands, and lasted longer there than in the rest of the Arrival of Christianity about 1000:
Kingdom of Denmark. Brochmand's devotional book, dating back chieftain Tróndur í Gøtu defending
to about 1650 and Thomas Kingo's hymns from 1699 constituted a traditional Norse religion
significant proportion of the spiritual life of the islands right up until
the twentieth century. Indeed, the expression Brochmandslestur is
still used to describe long and, as some might perceive them, boring texts and speeches.

Nationalist revival

When the Danish trade monopoly was lifted in 1856, Faroese

society started to boom both economically and culturally. The
restoration of long-suppressed Faroese culture also led to changes
in Christianity on the islands. After great contention, Faroese was
given the same status as Danish in hymns and preaching in 1924–
25. The ecclesiastical rituals (christening, burial, marriage etc.)
were introduced in Faroese in 1930, and in 1961, the authorised
Faroese edition of the Bible was published. During the first half of
the 20th century, dean Jákup Dahl had translated the New
Testament from Greek, and published it in 1937. Dahl also
translated the psalms from the Old Testament, and after his death in
1944, a vicar named Kristian Osvald Viderø continued to translate
the rest of the Bible from Hebrew. In 1963, the first Faroese hymn
book was published, and in the same year, the old title of dean was
upgraded to deputy bishop. In 1977, the first female vicar was
ordained, and in 1990, the Faroe Islands became an independent
diocese with its own bishop within the Church of Denmark.
Faroese clergymen played a major
part in the National awakening and
language conflict, which was a
conflict within Faroese society rather
than with the Danish.
In 2005, the Faroes signed a treaty with Denmark that allowed for the take over of most public institutions,
including the Vágar Airport and the People's Church. On 29 July 2007, on the date of the national holiday
– Ólavsøka, the Faroese Church became totally independent of the Church of Denmark.

Membership statistics

National
Change
Year Population Church Percentage
Annually
Members
2001 46,127 38,883 84.3%
2002 46,940 39,469 84.1% 0.2%
2003 47,647 39,925 83.8% 0.3%
2004 48,147 40,262 83.6% 0.2%
2005 48,298 40,401 83.6% 0.0%
2006 48,120 40,243 83.6% 0.0%
2007 48,262 40,298 83.5% 0.1%
2008 48,303 40,170 83.2% 0.3%
2009 48,604 40,272 82.9% 0.3%
2010 48,486 40,071 82.6% 0.3%
2011 48,431 39,881 82.3% 0.3%
2012 48,178 39,576 82.1% 0.2%
2013 48,030 39,409 82.1% 0.0%
2014 48,122 39,372 81.8% 0.3%
2015 48,591 39,605 81.5% 0.3%
2016 49,096 39,793 81.1% 0.4%
2017 49,786 40,152 80.6% 0.5%
2018 50,459 40,483 80.2% 0.4%
2019 51,263 40,838 79.7% 0.5%
2020 52,084 41,242 79.2% 0.5%
2021 52,859 41,580 78.7% 0.5%
2022 53,559 41,827 78.1% 0.6%
2023 54,175 41,729 77.0% 1.1%
Source: The Faroese Diocese Board/National
Register Office[3]

Current leadership
The Bishop (Biskupur) of the Faroe Islands is the Right Reverend Jógvan Fríðriksson,[4] who is the
church's chief pastor. Born on 19 February 1957, he was ordained in 1985 and worked as a parish priest on
the Faroese island of Eysturoy. He was consecrated as bishop in 2007, and is the first bishop of the
independent Church of the Faroe Islands, following its independence from the Church of Denmark. The
Bishop's seat is at Tórshavn Cathedral.
The Cathedral Dean (Dómpróstur) of Tórshavn Cathedral is the Very Reverend Uni Næs. The Dean is the
second most senior cleric, deputising for the Bishop in his absence, and sits ex officio on the Church of the
Faroe Islands ministerial council.

There are around twenty-five ordained priests serving the churches and chaplaincies of the Church of the
Faroe Islands. Around 60 churches and chapels are grouped into 14 parishes across the country. The
Church of the Faroe Islands clergy directory lists 25 parish priests (Sóknarprestur), of whom one also
serves as hospital chaplain, and one as diocesan exorcist.[4]

Bishops
1540–1556, Jens Riber, first Lutheran Bishop of the Faroe Islands
1556–1990, Faroe Islands incorporated into the Diocese of Copenhagen
1990–2007, Hans Jacob Joensen,[5] as a diocese of the Church of Denmark
2007-present, Jógvan Fríðriksson, as an autonomous single-diocese Lutheran church

Notable clergymen
Lucas Debes (1623-1675), Provost of the Faroes,
issued the first book about the archipelago.
V. U. Hammershaimb (1819-1909), Provost of the
Faroes, invented the modern Faroese grammar.
Fríðrikur Petersen (1858-1917), Provost of the
Faroes, poet and politician.
Jákup Dahl (1878-1944), Provost of the Faroes,
Bible translator.
Kristian Osvald Viderø (1906-1991), theologian,
finished Dahl's translation. Tórshavn Cathedral

See also
Religion in the Faroe Islands
Catholic Church in the Faroe Islands

Other Nordic national Lutheran churches

Church of Denmark
Church of Sweden
Church of Iceland
Church of Norway
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

References
1. "Parishes, 1st January (2000-2019)" (https://statbank.hagstova.fo/pxweb/en/H2/H2__MM__
MM03/atrud_prgj.px/). Statistics Faroe Islands. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
2. Referenced at the Encyclopedia of Global Religion, edited by Mark Juergensmeyer,
published 2012 by Sage publications, ISBN 978-0-7619-2729-7, page 390. (Page available
 on-line here (https://books.google.com/books?id=WwJzAwAAQBAJ&dq=faroe+islands+stat
e+church&pg=PA390)).
3. "MM03010 Parishes, 1st January (2001-2023)" (https://statbank.hagstova.fo/pxweb/en/H2/H
2__MM__MM03/atrud_prgj.px/table/tableViewLayout2/). Statbank. Retrieved 1 September
2023.
4. "Directory of priests" (https://web.archive.org/web/20171117102432/http://www.folkakirkjan.f
o/Default.aspx?pageid=6484). Church of the Faroe Islands. Archived from the original (http://
www.folkakirkjan.fo/Default.aspx?pageid=6484) on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 7 April
2018.
5. "Guds ord fra hebraisk til færøsk" (http://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/mennesker/guds-ord-fra-h
ebraisk-til-f%C3%A6r%C3%B8sk) (in Danish). Kristeligt Dagblad. Retrieved 8 April 2018.

External links
Official website (http://www.folkakirkjan.fo) (in Faroese)
Photo-site Faroese Churches (https://www.flickr.com/photos/14716771@N05/sets/72157604
035273565/)

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